The present invention generally relates to implements for handing food, and particularly to tong-type utensils having means for keeping the tong handles from coming, into direst contact with the food.
There are many kinds of food serving tongs in present day use. Among the most familiar are the simple sheet metal tongs composed of two identical opposing arms joined at one end by a pin and biased in the open position by a spring metal member inside the handles. Other well known tongs include the scissors type or those that are molded as one continuous piece of resilient plastic. Serving tongs such as these are often used at salad bars in restaurants and in serving other types of food in self-service food establishments, as well as for serving food in the home.
One common problem with most conventional tongs is that the handles very often come into direct contact with the food being served. For example, after serving themselves in a buffet serving line, some people place the tongs directly on top of the food or inside the serving bowl or utensil. Even when a user carefully props the tongs upright against the side of a salad bowl, or other serving bowl having curved interior walls, the tongs typically will fall or slide down into the bowl with the food. The next user must then retrieve the food-coated tong handles from the bowl, and in doing so usually soils his hands with the food material. Even if one takes care not to leave the serving tongs in the food container, the only other option in many circumstances is for the user to place the tongs on a table or counter top, where the handles are still subject to picking up contaminants from that surface, or a table cloth may be stained by food material clinging to the tongs. Another problem with most tongs is that sometimes the user's hand will accidentally slide too far down the arms of the tongs or will plunge into the food along with the grasping ends of the tongs, thereby placing the hand in direct contact with the food. At the very least, the prospect of eating food that has been "touched" by the hands of many previous tong-handlers is distasteful.
Beyond the aesthetic considerations, there are sanitary considerations. There is the distinct possibility that by sharing food that is served with conventional tong-type utensils, many human disease organisms including cold viruses, hepatitis viruses, E. coli or salmonella bacteria, or dysentery-causing parasites, for example, can be transmitted from one individual to another.
One approach toward isolating the hand of the user from the food being served is described by Culbertson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,288, which employs a U-shaped hand guard or places a separate hand grip on each arm of a pair of tongs.
Serving tongs that provide superior protection for both the food and the user from contamination and from soiling is needed. Such a utensil should be easy to manufacture and should not be cumbersome to use.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.